Soap Hub predicted Rachel as EJ’s shooter on Days of Our Lives over a week ago, and the August 20 episode just confirmed our suspicions. Here’s why, as the song goes, we knew it was Rachel all along!
First, we’ve been watching soaps for a long time, and when even my non-Days of our Lives watching husband noticed to ask, “Why do they keep playing that kid?” it was pretty obvious where the story was going.
Second, pinning the crime on a kid means the show could have their cake and eat it, too: They could claim they played fair and the shooter was a regular character, not some random stranger passing through with no connection to the victim, while, at the same time, not having to get rid of a key, adult Salem citizen.
Rachel will likely just get a slap on the wrist—followed by an ice-cream cone and a reminder that she’s the best girl ever—if she has to face any consequences at all. And that brings us to why we REALLY knew this would be Rachel.
EJ (Dan Feuerriegel) remembered who tried to kill him when Rachel insisted on playing with a glass paperweight, even after Marlena (Deidre Hall) told her not to, and then was shocked when she ended up dropping and breaking it. Rachel was stunned by what had happened; she couldn’t understand how it had happened, and she certainly couldn’t understand why anyone would blame her for it.
And that’s… Rachel. She is chastised not to do something, she does it anyway—because she’s Rachel, and Kristen (Stacy Haiduk) has made it clear to her that she can do whatever she wants and anyone who tries to hinder her in any way is just a tool of the patriarchy—and then, when it goes wrong, she’s been told that nothing is ever her fault, so she’s confused why anyone might want to punish her for it.
Rachel shot EJ. But Kristen was the one who made her into a spoiled brat. And a killer. This isn’t even Rachel’s first time!
